Malik Shah
Jalāl al-Dawla Mu'izz al-Dunyā Wa'l-Din Abu'l-Fatḥ ibn Alp Arslān (8 August 1055 – 19 November 1092), better known by his military name of Malik-Shah I (Turkish: I. Melikşah; Persian: ملکشاه‎‎), was sultan of the Seljuq Empire from 1072 to 1092. During his youth, he spent his time participating in the campaigns of his father Alp Arslan, along the latters vizier Nizam al-Mulk. During one of Alp Arslan's campaigns in 1072, the latter was fatally wounded and died only a few days later. After that, Malik-Shah was crowned as the new sultan of the empire, however, Malik-Shah did not access the throne peacefully, and had to fight his uncle, Qavurt, who claimed the throne. Although Malik-Shah was the nominal head of the Seljuq state, the vizier Nizam al-Mulk held near absolute power during his reign. Malik-Shah spent the rest of rest waging war against the Karakhanids on the eastern side, and establishing order in the Caucasus. Malik-Shah's death to this day remains under dispute; according to some scholars, he was poisoned by the Caliph, others say that he was poisoned by the supporters of Nizam al-Mulk. History Due to Hassan-i Sabbah's qualities in the performance of his responsibilities, the ruler Malik Shah was highly impressed by him and used to take his counsel on the matters of administration, especially economic planning; while contrary to this Nizamul Mulk was breeding jealousy and enmity against Hasan and was considering him to be an obstacle in his way; therefore he was anxiously contemplating doing away with him. Before Hassan-i Sabbah captured Alamut, the possessor of the fortress, Mahdi, was the governor of Sultan Malik Shah. When the news of the fortress of Alamut having fallen to Hasan reached the court of Malik Shah, Nizamul Mulk became highly perturbed and despatched several units of army one after another, one of which laid a seige to the fortress for nearly 4 months but to no purpose as it was all in vain. In 1092 Nizam al-Mulk was assassinated near Sihna, on the road to Baghdad, by a man disguised as a Sufi. As the assassin was immediately cut down by Nizam's bodyguard, it became impossible to establish with certainty who had sent him. One theory had it that he was an Is'maili Assassin, since these regularly made attempts on the lives of Seljuq officials and rulers during the 11th century. Another theory had it that the attack had been instigated by Malik-Shah, who may have grown tired of his overmighty vizier. After Nizam al-Mulk's death, Malik-Shah appointed another Persian named Taj al-Mulk Abu'l Ghana'im as his vizier. Malik-Shah then went to Baghdad and decided to depose al-Muqtadir and sent him the following message: "You must relinquish Baghdad to me, and depart to any land you choose." This was because Malik-Shah wanted to appoint his grandson (or nephew) Ja'far as the new Caliph. Death Malik-Shah died on 19 November 1092 while he was hunting. He was most likely poisoned by the Caliph or the supporters of Nizam al-Mulk. Under the orders of Terken Khatun, Malik-Shah's body was taken back to Isfahan, where it was buried in a madrasa. Upon his death, the Seljuq Empire fell into chaos, as rival successors and regional governors carved up their empire and waged war against each other. The situation within the Seljuq lands was further complicated by the arrival of the First Crusade, which detached large portions of Syria and Palestine from Muslim control in 1098 and 1099. The success of the First Crusade is at least in part attributable to the political confusion which resulted from Malik-Shah's death. Category:Sultans